About ASAP

Growing Minds is a program of Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. ASAP’s mission is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local food.

How to Grow Garlic

Thanks to a generous donation from Sow True Seed, we have free garlic for pre-K-12 school gardens in the Appalachian Grown region! Please stop by the ASAP office and pick some up. Don’t let the cool weather fool you, there is still a little time to get some garlic planted in the garden. But, the sooner you plant the better; we are nearing the end of garlic planting season!

Never grown garlic before? Here’s how to do it:

Break a garlic bulb apart into individual cloves, being careful to keep the papery skins covering each clove intact.

When planting garlic cloves, you want to put them in the ground with the flat end down and the pointed end up.

Plant the garlic cloves 4-6 inches apart, 2 inches down in the soil, with 12-15 inches between rows.

After a few weeks, you will begin to see green shoots. This is your garlic plant!

Water occassionally, especially in the spring. Stop watering when the garlic leaves begin to turn yellow (late June and into early July).

Harvest bulbs when there are 4 to 5 green leaves still on the plant. You will want to dig up the bulb and leave the stalks attached.

After harvesting, hang the garlic to dry out for a few weeks before removing the stalks and enjoying!